The Final Moments Of Freedom

Asher looked through his ECS one more time.

"Wow. When I'm done with my back up plan, I'm going to change all of these equipments, just like that. So looking at the details of them is completely, utterly and very, very unimportant.

In fact, if I become a legend someday and my life gets documented in some kind of digital media, none of this information should be put there... Because it's useless, very, very useless."

"Wow kid! You've finally lost your balls. Who the heck are you talking to? I know it's not me." The Old Man said.

"It's 'marbles', I've lost my marbles." Asher corrected.

"Ha! So you agree with me?" If the old man had his own body, he'd be smiling at his luck. His mistake had just caused Asher to insult himself.

"At least I've got both balls and marbles."

"I... Touche." The old couldn't think of a comeback to Asher's provocation.

After that, Asher took out a circular disk from inside his pouch. The twenty centimeters in diameter disk looked a little too big to fit into the pouch, but it wasn't a normal accessory anyway.

Removing Nova's unconscious body from his, he places the disk on her head. And with a beep, the disk enclosed Nova in a transparent sphere.

"This should make it safe for her to teleport back to the island." He brought his hand to the small blue button at the center of the disk.

But just when he was about to hit the button, Asher's body was suddenly overcome with a wave of very familiar energy.

"A... A shard?" He had only felt this kind of energy during his first steal with the Animats.

"Why would a shard just pop up like that?" The old man thought out loud... In Asher's mind.

But soon, the shard energy just vanished, as mysteriously as it came.

"What the?"

However, this was just the beginning, as the shards presence was soon coming and going, surging through his body and out into the environment like a river. But Asher knew he was the only one who could sense a shard's presence, so he didn't worry about it's safety.

"Why would a shard's aura suddenly appear, only to disappear and reappear again. It's almost like someone's playing a prank on me." Asher started to ponder the situation.

"I'm invisible to people right now, so the person or people doing this must have the eyes of way higher level than mine and be aware of my natural ability to sense a nearby shard."

"You're killing me kid. You already know who it is don't you?" The old man begged for him to stop his detailed detective explanation.

"Hold up." Asher tapped on the smart watch on his wrist.

"Irregular technological activity?... Yes yes."

He calmly put his hand inside his pouch. "Got you birdie."

All of a sudden, Asher took out a black and blue colored sniper and pointed it at a random direction.

"Nice prank! But I can show you something better!!"

The people on the ground were just starting to calm down as it looked like the threat known as the Phantom was gone.

But all of a sudden, a large blue explosion occurred in the sky.

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There was no way Asher could mask the power of the Apocalypse-SR with his present illusory skills.

"Oh!!! snap!!!!" The angelic looking man screamed in fear as the sniper's bullet made of pure energy closed the ten kilometers distance in an instant.

The holographic looking woman beside him calmly flew into his body and then moved him out of the way.

BOOM!!!!

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!

BOOM!

The bullet pushed apart the wind in the atmosphere as it progressed forward.

With the way that it went, Lucius Tuttel thought the bullet might have even gone to outer space.

Katie, his assistant came out of his body just as easily as she went in, only to find Lucius' surprised face looking into the night sky.

"What a wonderful Thursday experience." Lucius suddenly turned around and shrugged with a goofy smile.

"He definitely got my message. Now let's go back home before he sends me another one of his." He winked.

Katie nodded. And with a touch from her, they both teleported out of the sky.

———

Asher's hands fell down, slumped, as the sniper disappeared into his pouch. The gun had already lost its shiny blue glow.

[Your arm as been critically damaged.

Healing will now commen-

Healing as been completed.]

Messages from his ECS flashed in front of Asher's face at rapid speed.

"So... We're going back?" The old man asked.

Asher warmed up his arms and cracked his neck. When he looked to his left, he noticed that Nova had already disappeared, meaning her dad must have taken her away when they left.

Asher looked into the night sky, taking in the fresh cold night air. He was enjoying the strong breeze, not minding the unnecessary panic he had caused this city today. He felt like an mc after conquering a great challenge and saving his people, however, things were very much the opposite.

Nothing might have happened to them, but that didn't make this day any less horrible for Ursalin.

"I guess it'll be nice to see their cheeky faces again."

Soon, Asher faded away into the night, leaving not even the slightest of traces of his existence behind.

———

From atop a high rise building far away, even in another city, a holy-like being made of fair white light sat in the sky, beneath the round moon. With his form bearing the semblance of a human.

#Sirius, you dog. I thought you said you'd iced that popsicle.# The being spoke, seemingly able to witness what was happening kilometers away.

#What are you saying, Mikhail?# Another masculine voice filled the atmosphere.

Mikhail, the light-being chuckled condescendingly at the voice. #I'm talking about that mortal that attacked Canis-4 two years ago.#

For a few seconds, only the cold wind blew in the night, till Sirius, wherever he was, spoke again to break the silence.

#That mortal?# This time, Sirius was the one to laugh.

#I didn't bother to check, since I assumed that his carcass had been disintegrated.#

#Pft! Excuses.# Sirius started to spin as he laid in the air.

#Ah... Okay Sirius, if you think you can do anything different from those before you, then why don't you give it a go?#

Sirius could only cackle loudly before he took a sitting position.

#Alright! I'll show you hermits how it's done. Six months, just give me six months and I'll retrieve both his Universe-shard... and his head.#

Asher had somehow survived his encounter with one of Earth's strongest, Sirius, two years ago. And now, another Seraph was pursuing him, only this time, with the promise that his detachable head would be delivered for the world to see.